3) Dave Taylor :: Acquired Mark Parrish and Brent Sopel (better fit for West). Addressed more depth on offense and defense. Paid a price by giving away Jeff Tambellini (excellent prospect for the Isle’s). Denis Grebeshkov is a solid prospect defenseman for his potential, but has struggled process. No loss on starting line-up.

4) Bobby Clarke :: No dramatic trades. Added my favorite available defenseman in Dennis Gauthier and added forward depth with Dimitrakos, who has his surprising moments. Paid a lot with draft picks by trading two 2nd rounders and a 3rd. Addressed needs with well known and good players.

5) John Muckler :: Wanted a scoring center, and got Tyler Arnason for solid and dependable prospect in Brian Bochenski. No drastic changes made, which was neccessary. Goaltending issue could backfire on Muckler.

6) Jim Rutherford :: With Eric Cole out, added a much experienced player in Mark Recchi. Great acquisition for a solid Cup run. Defense still a bit questionable. Did not pay a hefty price for Recchi, but two mid-level prospects and a 2nd is not cheap.

7) Glen Sather :: It was either an offensive defenseman or a physical stay at home defenseman. The stay at homers were selling at a high price and Brendan Witt was a target for the Rangers. In the end, the Rangers looked at an offensive defenseman to carry the puck, and who has good ice vision, a heck of a shot on the point..yet experienced, playoff experience. Sandis Ozolinsh was a player I picked for the Rangers to get back in December. Just a 3rd round traded, which was acquired from the Sharks in exchange for Ville Nieminen who, according to Slats, lost his place to Ryan Hollweg.

8) Doug Armstrong :: Willie Mitchell is a solid defenseman, a difference maker. I really don’t know why the Wild decided to trade him. Guess Kuba is more valuable to them? Martin Skoula is pretty decent, and Shawn Belle is a pretty good defenseman prospect.., great deal for Armstrong by solidifying his defense extremely well.

THE SELLERS

1) Mike Milbury :: I was wrong in saying that owner Mr. Wang made the worst decision to allow Mad Mike to deal with the trade deadline. Milbury had to make trades and ended up selling Mark Parrish, Brent Sopel, and Brad Lukowich. Lukowich, who cares…he is not one of a kind. Sopel did not work out, who cares. Parrish….Isle’s fans cringe on losing such a player. But Jeff Tambellini? He won’t be a top point getter but this guy is a great prospect to have and he will right the wrong of Milbury’s worst trade of Luongo and Jokinen. Well, not really right it, but it will ease down. He had to sell, freed up some cap space and looks ahead for the future.

2) Brian Burke :: Slashed salary and prepared for next season (prediction I thought gm’s would do). Added solid winger in Friesen to play with young talent in Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Andy McDonald, and soon Bobby Ryan. Kept the defense balanced by acquiring O’Donnell.

3) Craig Patrick :: I guess he could not even sell John LeClair for a bag of pucks. Mark Recchi was a coveted veteran for the Cup running teams and Patrick got a good deal of value for an aging vet by acquring a useful 2nd rounder and two pretty good prospects to join the Penguins future success with the youth program. Patrick didn’t have to worry about much anyway, he knows he is getting another 1st overall pick for the third time in five years.

4) Dave Tallon :: I think he could have gotten Bochenski and a draft pick, but at least he got rid of a center that apparently was “not working out” in the Windy City. I liked what I saw in Bochenski, good deal.

5) George McPhee :: I think it’s usually a great trade when a team trades a UFA player for a 1st rounder. But, Kris Beech? He was doing “okay” in Washington’s system. A total bust in Pittsburgh, and a total bust in Nashville. So….pretty much just Brendan Witt for a 1st rounder. It’s good…but Beech was useless.

6) Doug Risebrough :: I’m very puzzled by him giving away Mitchell. The guy is a steady defenseman who gave little in return to the Wild. Aside from Mitchell came a 2nd round pick going to Dallas. What the heck!? For Martin Skoula and Shawn Belle? I can’t totally blame the GM on this one because it has to be a scout that told him great things about Belle and Skoula. Mitchell should have remained a Wild. But, I guess Risebrough is looking at two players for one.

7) Mike O’Connell :: Do I really need to explain it to you why he ranks last on my list? If Reasoner scores 60 points next season, then I will.

SMART GENERAL MANAGERS

1) Mike Keenan :: I have to say, this guy has guts and sent an incredible message to the team. By not trading Olli Jokinen….he is telling the players that the Panthers should be in the playoffs and should follow Jokinen’s lead. This is also a lesson for Roberto Luongo to learn. I know he wants to win, but the Panthers are not far from playoff contention, most likely next season. Gratton proved me wrong, the guy is a workaholic. Josef Stumpel finally came together and is a top scorer for the team. Keenan made an awesome statement. It took guts and he deserves credit. I expected him to buy a player or two for scoring, but Rick Jackman is a good buy.

2) Ken Holland :: I thought he would work his usual magic by acquiring a player of significance, but why bother? I heard and read analysts saying what is Holland waiting for. What should he be waiting for? Did these guys forget that there is a salary cap? Holland has the best team in the West. No need to make changes.

3) Michael Burnett :: Yes, in a way he should be ranked in the Sellers category, but he inked Derek Morris who was one of two defensemen to get traded out of Phoenix, the other being Gauthier. He did not give away Comrie as rumored. I don’t know if he wanted to, but it would have been idiotic if he did. I think the Yotes are not at all rebuilding. I don’t know how Burnett did not manage to move Curtis Joseph, but I guess his intentions are of re-signing him for another year. If so, this is not rebuilding. Burnett will look to buy free agents this year. He keeps the team attractive enough for free agents to sign with. He got two 2nd rounders for Gauthier, which is a good return. He is giving another chance to Oleg Kvasha, we’ll see how that plays out. I actually liked what Burnett did. He managed his team by not being a buyer or a seller, but made futher preparation for next season, which I predicted would happen.

4) Bob Gainey :: As I mentioned in my Wednesday wrap up column….. David Aebsicher’s best years will be as a Montreal Canadien. Forget about Gainey looking to get a goalie in the next couple of off-seasons. He has Huet, Aebischer, Danis, and will look at Carey Price to develop. He got rid of a problem in Jose` Theodore. He played it smart. Next season, the Canadiens will be among one of the top teams in the league with the best goaltending depth.

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING!?

1) Lou Lamoriello :: How on earth did he see that his defense needed help? If anything, that’s the area that is winning games for the poorly talented Devils. Brad Lukowich? Why? Ken Klee for a top Devils prospect (which would not be so top in other teams’ systems) in Suglobov? A 4th rounder for a gritty defensive forward in Jason Weimer? Why? He concentrated on all the defensive aspects of the game yet failed to address their major need in offense! Without Patrick Elias the Devils offense is close to non-existent aside from Gomez and Gionta. And can someone help me out here? I calculated the Devils player salaries on NHLPA.com and even if I exclude Darren Langdon, Tallackson, and even Jensens…. the Devils are still above $39,000,000. It’s nice to strengthen the blueline, but that was NOT a real need and not worth trading Suglobov for it.

2) John Ferguson Jr. :: Even though I wanted him to sell, the day that he acquired Luke Richardson I gave JFJ two thumbs up for trying to make his team better. Yet he did nothing after that except acquiring a good prospect in Klee. Are you kidding me? This was the best time for him to make trades and to sell. Seemed like he was going to buy but he did not do anything. Yikes….

3) Darryl Sutter :: You want a run at the Cup? You have to pay a price for it. Edmonton did well to acquire Samsonov. Sutter, you telling me you could not have given a similar value of Reason, a 2nd, and a Yan Statny type of player? Refused to help his team, which desperately needed a scoring center. I mean, for depserate measures? Get Oleg Kvasha. I think the guy is a total bust but definitely worth a shot if you’re running for the Cup. Big in size, very good skater…. who knows…could have made a difference. Better to try than to not try at all.

4) Jay Feaster :: Did nothing for a team that is slipping from the playoffs. Horrible.

I would like to thank Lint07 for helping me out and updating HTR.com with the latest updates within seconds after breaking news.

Many thanks to the readers for using HockeyTradeRumors.com as a tool to see the latest updates. I was very happy to see the Web site packed.